World Thinking Day, formerly Thinking Day, is celebrated annually on 22 February by all

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts A Girl Guide or Girl Scout is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 10 and 14. Age limits are different in each organisation. The term Girl Scout is used in the United States and several East Asian co ...

. It is also celebrated by Scout and Guide organizations around the world. It is a day when they think about their "sisters" (and "brothers") in all the countries of the world, the meaning of Guiding, and its global impact. Most recently,

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, ...

has selected an important international issue as the theme for each year's World Thinking Day, and selected a focus country from each of their five world regions. Girl Guides and Girl Scouts use these as an opportunity to study and appreciate other countries and cultures, and equally increase

awareness Awareness is the state of being conscious of something. More specifically, it is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognizant of events. Another definition describes it as a state wherein a subject is aware of some inform ...

and sensitivity on global concerns. Donations are collected for the Thinking Day Fund which supports projects to help Girl Guides and Scouts around the world. 22 February was chosen as it was the

birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many relig ...

of Scouting and Guiding founder Lord

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the worl ...

and of Lady

Olave Baden-Powell Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell (''née'' Soames; 22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and co-founder o ...

, his wife and World Chief Guide. Other Scouts celebrate it as B.-P. Day or Founders' Day.

History

In 1926, at the Fourth Girl Scout International Conference, held at

Girl Scouts of the United States Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized a ...

’s Camp Edith Macy (presently the Edith Macy Conference Center), the conference delegates highlighted the need for a special international day when Girl Guides and Girl Scouts would think about the worldwide spread of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting, and of all the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world, giving them, their "sisters," thanks and appreciation. It was decided by the delegates that this day would be 22 February, the birthday of both Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, and Lady Olave Baden-Powell, his wife and the World Chief Guide. In 1999, at the 30th World Conference, held in Ireland, the name was changed from "Thinking Day" to "World Thinking Day", to emphasize the global aspect of this special day.

World Thinking Day Fund

At the Seventh World Conference in Poland, a Belgian delegate suggested that the girls' appreciation and

friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

should not only be shown by the exchange of wishes, but also through presents, which are after all typical of birthdays, in the form of a voluntary contribution to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. In her first letter about the World Thinking Day Fund Lady Baden-Powell, the World Chief Guide, asked the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to donate "a penny for your thoughts," in order to support the Movement. The amount raised was £520 12s 6d in 1933, and rose to £35,346 in 1971. The World Thinking Day Fund is used to help more girls and young women around the world by spreading the Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting programme.

World Thinking Day themes

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts chooses a theme for each World Thinking Day and proposes related activities. Themes include: * 2005: "Think about food" * 2006: "Think about, talk about and do something about adolescent health issues"; often shortened to ''Think about adolescent health'' * 2007: "Discover your potential by taking the lead, growing friendships, and speaking out"; often shortened to ''Discover your potential'' * 2008: "Think about water" * 2009: UN Millennium Development Goal 6: "Stop the spread of AIDS, malaria and other diseases"; often shortened to ''Stop the spread of diseases'' * 2010: UN Millennium Development Goal 1: Girls worldwide say "Together we can end extreme poverty and hunger". * 2011: UN Millennium Development Goal 3: Girls worldwide say "Empowering girls will change our world". * 2012: "Environment": UN Millennium Development Goal 7: Girls worldwide say “We can save our planet”. * 2013: UN Millennium Development Goal 4: "Reduce child mortality" and UN Millennium Development Goal 5:"Improve maternal health" * 2014: UN Millennium Development Goal 2: "Providing universal access to primary education" * 2015: UN Millennium Development Goal 8: "Developing partnerships for global development" * 2016: "Connect" * 2017: "Grow" * 2018: "Impact" * 2019: "Leadership" * 2020: "Living Threads" * 2021: "Stand Together for Peace" *2022: "Our World, Our Equal Future: The environment and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

" *2023: "Our World, Our Thriving Future: The environment and global poverty" *2024: "Our World, Our Peaceful Future: The environment, peace and security"

Traditions and activities

Every year on 22 February, Rangers from

Mona Burgin Annie Mona Burgin (11 March 1903 – 15 June 1985), usually known as Mona Burgin, was a New Zealand teacher who was active in the Girl Guiding movement. She is principally known for her role training adults. Biography Burgin was the daughter o ...

's Unit in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, set off before dawn, while it is still dark, and they climb to the top of

Maungawhau / Mount Eden Maungawhau / Mount Eden is a scoria cone and Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) in the Mount Eden suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. Geography The cone is a dormant volcano and its summit, at above sea level, is the highest natural point on the ...

. There they set up their little campfire and a flag-staff, and as the sun rises over the sea they raise the Guide World Flag, they sing the World Song, and they speak of some of the people and the countries they are Thinking about - and so they start "The Big Think" which then travels all the way round the world. On the nearest weekend to World Thinking Day, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from across the world come together on

ScoutLink Jamboree on the Internet, known by its acronym JOTI, is an international Scouting activity held annually. Participants, through the use of designated Chats from all over the world, can contact their fellow Scouts by means of the Internet. Common c ...

to chat with each other and celebrate their Founders. Others are involved with Thinking Day on the Air (TDOT

using

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

, similar to the

Jamboree On The Air Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually; it is on the third full weekend in October. First held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, it was devis ...

of the Scout movement. Some

member organizations use it as an opportunity to do projects with their 'twin' organization, such as Canada and Dominic

One tradition is that every Scout or Guide, ex-Scout or ex-Guide, places a candle in their window that night at dusk: "This is my little Guiding Light, I'm going to let it shine." It is also a tradition to send letters or postcards to other Scout and Guides before Thinking Day. In 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 a postcard campaign was organized by the

Ring deutscher Pfadfinderverbände The Ring deutscher Pfadfinderverbände (RdP; ''German Scout Federation'') is the German national Scouting organization within the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). It serves 115,944 members (as of 2011). The RdP was founded as Ri ...

Ring Deutscher Pfadfinderinnenverbände The Ring Deutscher Pfadfinderinnenverbände (RDP; ''German Guide Federation'') is the German national Guiding organization within the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). It serves 47,688 members (as of 2008). The RDP was f ...

Lëtzebuerger Guiden a Scouten The Lëtzebuerger Guiden a Scouten (''Scouts and Guides of Luxembourg'', LGS) is one of Luxembourg's Scouting and Guiding organizations. It is a member of the federation Scouting in Luxembourg and of the World Association of Girl Guides and Gir ...

Swiss Guide and Scout Movement The Swiss Guide and Scout Movement (SGSM) (''German: Pfadibewegung Schweiz (PBS), French: Mouvement Scout de Suisse (MSdS), Italian: Movimento Scout Svizzero (MSS), Rumantsch: Moviment Battasendas Svizra (MBS)'') is the national Scouting and Gu ...

Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Liechtensteins Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Liechtensteins (''Scouts and Guides of Liechtenstein'', PPL) is the national Scouting and Guiding association of Liechtenstein. Scouting in Liechtenstein started in 1931, and Guiding followed in 1932. The Boy Scout ...

and

Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs (PPÖ; ''Austrian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides'') is the largest Scouting and Guiding organization in Austria and the only one approved by World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and t ...

Literature

References

External links

* * {{cite web, url=https://www.girlscouts.org/en/about-girl-scouts/global/world-thinking-day.html, url-status=live, title=World Thinking Day, work=Girl Scouts of the USA February observances Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Scouting events